Welcome, welcome to #WriterWednesday, that wonderful day of the week in which I host a fellow author for a brief interview – the perfect bite-sized break to go along with that Kit Kat you’re thinking about (or is that just me?).
This week I’m honored to have Michele Stegman, author of warm, sensuous romance, with us. So I’ll duck out of the way while she tells us a bit about herself and her latest work…
What inspires you to write?
Pure and simple, I love to tell stories.
At a party the other day, a friend complimented my necklace. Instead of just saying thank you, I started telling her about the lapis in it, how it came from the misty mountains of Afghanistan, and about Michelangelo grinding up lapis to make ultramarine blue, etc, until I suddenly realized I was telling my friends a lot more than they ever wanted to know about my necklace. They were fascinated, but still, I really need to confine my storytelling to my books!
Which type of romance do you love most, and why?
Historical romance, of course! There is just something about the clothes and the horses and the heroes that attract me. When I visited Williamsburg, VA, they were making a film and I couldn’t take my eyes off the dashing man in 18th century clothes riding a horse.
I have always, even as a child, loved reading about history, learning how things were made, and how food was cooked and preserved. So now, I am a hand spinner and weaver and live in an 1840’s log cabin surrounded by antiques.
What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?
Please, please can I recommend more than one?
Jo Beverley is a real favorite of mine. Not only are her stories riveting, but her knowledge of history and of the English upper class is spot on.
Madeline Hunter is another I would recommend for historical accuracy. Sometimes I think she cheats and uses a time machine because her descriptions are so real. How could she know all this stuff unless she has been there?
And one more, Roberta Gellis, because I have learned so much history from her books. Yet she works it in without one boring sentence.
What’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?
That would have to be Kathleen Woodiwiss’s A Rose in Winter. I like everything about that book, but maybe my main reason is that it is a “beauty and the beast” story, which was my all-time favorite fairy tale as a child.
A Bit About Conquest of the Heart:
In 1067 England, Madeline, a Norman, wants a big, brash, never-defeated-in-battle, Norman knight. What she gets, by order of the king, is a wiry Saxon who once studied for the priesthood instead of warfare. But is this gentle man she is falling in love with entangled in the rebellion now sweeping the land?
Ranulf wants to marry the girl next door. What he gets, by order of the king, is a lush, strong Norman woman who just might be a spy reporting his every move. He wants her in every way a man can possibly want a woman. But can he trust his heart to a woman might have been sent to root out the struggle for freedom his people are engaged in? How can the overcome the distrust they feel to find love?
Find Conquest of the Heart here:
Amazon (ebook) | Amazon (paperback) | Barnes and Noble | Mythical Press (paperback) | Smashwords
A Bit About Michele:
Michele Stegman has always loved history and majored in it in college. As a graduate student, she decided that history papers would be more fun to read if they were about people and their relationships. So she added some romance and started writing historical romance.
She lives with her husband, Ron, and two cats at the end of a dead-end road on 46 acres surrounded by wildlife.
Want to connect further with Michele? Find her on her website or on Facebook!
Thanks so much for being here, Michele! It was delightful to host you.
Michele really can’t get enough history. She has even dated back her own family history as well as her husbands family history back as far as one can.
I love it! I hope to continue my genealogical work, too – and I’m a history nut, as well, so I love hosting fellow history nuts. 🙂 Thanks for popping in to say hi, Shana!